AIBU to ignore my DH's wish for a freezer list?

[wisebird]

My DH, unusually, had an hour or two off from his 24/7 job yesterday and spent it alphabetising the spice cupboard and listing all the items in our freezer - by shelf, quantity and number. He wants me to add/subtract to the freezer list every time I put something in or take something out. I am already in trouble this morning for taking out 3 bread rolls and 2 chicken breasts without updating the list. He claims the freezer list will make life easier for me. Now, I have a pretty good idea what is in the freezer as I do all the shopping and cooking (I am a SAHM), and tbh don't want to mess around with a list when I can remember what is in the freezer or, worst case scenario, open the door and look. I told DH this and he then said it would make it easier for him when he wants to cook if he can see at a glance what we have. As background info, due to his extreme job, he cooks a meal (well, a course) maximum about once every 2 or 3 months.

So AIBU to not want to have an extra chore that does not help me in order that 4 or 5 times a year DH is saved the trouble of OPENING the door of the freezer and fridge and looking inside it?

I am worried about mission creep and lists being applied to the fridge and the veg trays next . So AIBU or should I humour him for a week or two on the basis that he pays for everything?

Nagoo - what on earth does your DH use pie charts for domestically ? [feels as if she has entered a parallel universe of weirdness]

Seriously, there is a chart of family outgoings, gas and electric, mortgage, food, gifts, etc.

Surprisingly he hasn't shown me the 'frittered on playstation games' segment.

Snigger...

"Pie chart = freezer contents"

This thread is reminding me of the "tupperware cupboard" thread.
Also full of weirdos terribly organised people.

Crikey, if my DP started using excel to monitor my domestic activities I would take him to a shrink presto.

Wisebird, I feel your pain, I have a dh with domestic control freak tendencies. (I have posted in the past about The Great Teatowel Row after he suggested we should set aside some time to go through the teatowels together and see which ones to keep, rather than me just chuck the torn ones out myself, what with me being a SAHM and all).

However I am rather proud fond of my freezer list. Once when I defrosted it, the contents matched up exactly with the list that had been started three months earlier.

Sorry but he sounds barking mad. I would be calling the men in white coats. The comment about "making life easier for me" would irritate me immensely - I have a pretty clear idea about how I manage housework and certainly wouldn't appreciate gems of wisdom coming from a partner who doesn't do any.

We do a freeer list and it mostly works for us, just the number of meals there are so 2 pies, 3 packets of mince etc. It just helps us so we then look and see when we next have money going in the bank and when we need to get more in. It is no order at all, and we do sometimes forget to mark stuff off but we find it useful

Don't do it for cupboard stuff though, most of that is memory

Is it completely wrong that I feel slightly in awe of someone who can regularly make pie-charts of all their expenditures? I tried it a few times and was horrified at how much we spent on take-away coffee, but apart from that gem it largely tallied with what I thought we spent anyhow and was otherwise completely useless....

My colour coded 'what's worth shipping home and what we should buy again based on volume and price' chart when moving countrywas a work of genius however, and I won't hear anything against it.

I think some DHs would be better off spending time either helping their DWs with the housework than trying to categorise where they are spending. Sounds to me like too many men with too much time on their hands....

I ocaisionally and randomly make a list of lunchbox stuff with sell by dates and stick it on the fridge so that DH and DS's can see at a glance what there is without rearranging the whole fridge! also means that there is half a chance that something will be eaten before it is out of date.

Elderberry Syrup - that's exactly the kind of thing only your DH sounds more co-operative and less authoritative: my DH would have a session wherein he coached me for the qualities to look for in a tea towel past its best and then he would make snap inspections to make sure I was not inadvertantly hanging on to any that had not come up to his predetermined standards. He doesn't actually DO any housework himself, just oversees it. He is more of a manager/inspector and instigator of systems . He has lately (for a year or so) picked up his own socks and underpants since I pointed out that them making it into the laundry basket would be helpful so maybe I can extend his actual helping in order to ensure he has absolutely no time for new ideas

I go with the poster who suggested he shoves it where the sun don't shine

Pie charts? Pie charts? Bloody hell.

And whilst we're on the subject, just what, exactly, is wrong with a tupperware cupboard?

I think that it is a great idea, but that your DH has really not taken it to its logical conclusion. Paper lists really do get too easily lost, or damaged, and are really sooo last century, so the only sensible way for you to run such a sophisticated plan is with a top of the range iPad. That way you could email him regular updates as to the freezer contents, and it will be quick and efficient for you to hide in the kitchen and secretly MN keep the list updated.

Well never let it be said you don't learn something new every day - especially on MN! I had no idea - no idea at all - that people did shit like this! Do you not know what's in your freezers? Do you have no idea what shelf to reach for when you want the curry powder? Are you unaware when you use the last of something and need to replace it? I can manage all of this stuff without lists, charts, audits and God alone knows what and I'm shot away to buggery most of the time! It's really not looking good for you lot!

MHaze

In fact, it is such an excellent system, that you really should apply it to all your household processes. For example, laundry - each household member (using their own iPad of course) can keep an inventory of what they wear each day and what they put in the laundry basket. Then you would know how much laundry you would have to do each week, and whether a particular item is clean or dirty.

I am sure that you could usefully spend your time MNing producing work-flow analysis that you could present to your family one evening a week in a scintillating household management review meeting.

I've got a chest freezer. It's full of bits of pig, cow, lamb, and chicken. Beyond that I have no farking idea what's in it. Just that cow and lamb seems relatively full, pig is fairly full, and chicken is getting a bit low.

There, done my freezer list.

I keep my Aunt Bessie in mine

One day fridges and freezers will do this automatically

God though.. I thought I was uptight about my our kitchen. Spices have to be arranged in families/frequency of use (I find the cupboard organises itself when I'm not looking)

The freezer is organised in little plastic bags with contents/date etc written on them and if challenged could probably write a fairly comprehensive list of it's contents..

I suppose I do have a list. It's just in my brain instead of written down somewhere.. that way nobody can see quite how mad I am

Thistledew For heaven's sake, I can't show DH this thread now or he will be buying an app for the ipad for just this job, and for the laundry. And if there isn't one he will be helpfully suggesting that writing one could be a great new career challenge for me - hmmmmm..a housework app...maybe that IS a moneyspinner....

Yes, I pretty much know what is in my freezer - this whole list thing is purely for DH's own benefit for if/when he decides to cook some time and doesn't have time to open the freezer door to see what is there and/or doesn't want to ask me.

Nagoo my DH does that too, drives me mad it does. Especially when he doesnt get round to it for a couple of months then I get "there's a PayPal receipt for £3.71 on 21st April". Not the foggiest.....of course I.ll spend my evening checking my eBay history for you darling....not like I have anythingbetter to do is it!

List is no use. You need a touchscreen on front of each cupboard linked to Ocado/supermarket of choice.

Loving the phrase "mission creep"

Can I pinch it for use when I am asked to do anything additional?